Fast Track to Innovation

Fast Track to Innovation provides funding for bottom-up proposals for close to market innovation in any areas of technology or application. This thematic openness, combined with the possibility for all kinds of innovation actors to work together and deliver innovation onto the market nurtures trans-disciplinary and cross-sectoral cooperation.

The aim is to

reduce time from idea to market

stimulate the participation of first time applicants to EU research funding and,

increase private sector investment in research and innovation

FTI funding is a maximum contribution of €3million per proposal with time-to-grant of around 6 months.

Who can participate?

All kinds of innovation actors can work together to develop sustainable innovations addressing societal needs or areas under Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies and, at the same time, create viable business opportunities. For this reason, FTI projects must be business-driven and clearly demonstrate potential for commercialisation to ensure quick market take-up (within a three year period after the start of the FTI project).

Proposals for funding must be submitted by consortia comprising between three and five legal entities established in at least three different EU member states or countries associated to Horizon 2020 . Industry involvement will imply:

either the allocaiton of at least 60% of the budget to industry participants in the consortium

or the presence of a minimum of two industry participants in a consortium of three or four partners, or of three industry participants in a consortium of five partners